Opinions on wrist repair

I got a not-so-nice surprise the other day. The Diana 27 I bought has now been tuned and is a smooth shooter. I wanted to get the Diana mud-like stain off and refinish it so I stripped and sanded. I noticed a very faint crack the thickness of a hair on both sides of the wood. I applied the new stain and of course, it settled into the crack making it more noticable. I think this gun was dropped on the butt at one time - either during shipping or by the former owner. He denies knowing about it and rightly so - it was not visible through the factory finish. The crack is tight - I didn't want to try and separate it too hard but it's pretty solid. It runs a good 3" back if you look hard. It also didn't crack with the grain?? So my question is - how best to repair it so it's strong but not visible? I was thinking of boring from where the action is bedded - at the tube plug and using either an epoxied metal rod, or a long wood screw. The reapir would not be visible unless the action was removed from the gun. Too bad, because the stock looks great and will really pop once I get the Waterlox finish applied. All advise appreciated.

Your idea for a fix is a good one.

Blind hole, starting from inside the inletting where it won't be visible.

Will usually use a 3/8" length of good oak dowel, rather than metal, but there isn't any reason you can't use a long compression screw the same way.

Will often use Epoxy and the wooden dowel. SLOW dry epocy, warmed to make it more runny. Will soak the dowl, put some in the hole, and use the dowel as a piston...pumping it up and down to inject glue along fault lines. Then press the dowel solidly home and clamp the stock. In about an hour, clean off any ooze before it hardens, then leave it clamped and unfussed with for a couple of days.

Blind dowel sounds like the best method

February 14 2010, 3:29 PM

Sooner or later, that crack will flex open. If you groove the dowel (assuming you are cutting one from hardware round stock) the glue, etc, will flow back more easily. Nice 27, BTW. What's the vintage? 50's/60's?

Ideally you want to be able to close the crack, so I would go with

February 14 2010, 4:09 PM

the wood screw idea. I would drill a pilot hole for the wood screw, but the upper section of the hole I would make clearence size, so that when the screw is tightened, it will draw the break together, I would coat the screw with bees wax, and start it in to the point where it would just start to close the crack, then back it off a turn, then flow really thin super glue into the crack and imeadeately tighten the screw. hth.

The hard part is getting superglue into the crack

February 14 2010, 4:20 PM

You might have to gently force it open. I have a Spitfire that someone broke the forearm and the guy's son put a wood screw into it - but from the bottom. If he had run it from the inside, it would look a whole lot better. Once you get the glue in and draw it tight, you could even leave the wood screw in place of a dowel. But, if the crack is so fine it's not noticeable, you could just do the dowel thing.

Now, for a really strong repair, you can use brass armorer's rods. Makes a nice stock decoration, too. Or, better yet, rawhide, soaked, wrapped and left to dry. Will outlast the wood. JK.

The crack opened with 1st coat of Waterlox

February 14 2010, 4:38 PM

Prior to finishing, I was able to sand out any trace of it. Even after staining with a water based stain, it wasn't apparent. The Waterlox must have penetrated into the crack and swelled things a bit as it is more noticable. I'm leaning towards a wood screw to draw things together tight. Might have to see if I can get some Super Glue to flow in the crack, but I don't want to force it open more. I don't need it to crack all the way through and it does seem it would need significant pressure to open it up some.

Removing the old finnish may have let the wood absorb moisture

February 14 2010, 4:55 PM

or loose moisture. I've had cracks open on stock blanks bringing them from my basement into the house(too dry). I don't know if the cracks had been there all along, or if the blanks cracked due to stresses?

Wood Screw & CA (Super Glue)

February 14 2010, 5:29 PM

Make sure to use a non tapered screw head (just a plain flat bottomed round head screw) Square drive # 2/3 Roberts is even better. Also make sure to over drill your pilot to account for about half the thread width.

So Far James is all over this, and his advice is spot on ! The crack is from radial shrinkage due to envioronmental moisture and subsequent drying.

FYI: Epoxied rod is for diagonal shear fractures, so is not indicated for this application.

Now if you'll please excuse me.......If my wife catches me on a forum on Valentines Day my skull will look quite similar when they do the autopsy ! *=^0 Luck !

Thanks guys - I know this topic has been beaten

February 14 2010, 6:03 PM

I know this topic has been beaten to death so thank you all! I just really wanted this to turn out well as the action is now almost perfect (99 out of 100 I'd say). I've also put a lot of time in on a thorough de-burr, polish and lube tune and it's smooth like butta. Think I'm going with a long, flat head wood screw for the repair. Hopefully, it will come together and I'll sand the area and restain and you won't even see it. I'll post pics when it all comes together. It will be a nice one!

Long wood screws

February 14 2010, 5:46 PM

Drill two blind holes - one from inside the action area down through the stock. Drill another from the outside of the pistol grip, parallel to but apart from the first hole - separate them by 1/2" or more if possible.

Screw a long wood screw into each hole. You will need to fill space about the screw head for the exterior hole - either a wooden plug or maybe fashion some kind of a grip cap to cover it.

If you have access to a horizontal drill (or Shopsmith) this job will be a snap. The final stock will be stronger than original.

James Is Spot On,,,,, :)

February 14 2010, 7:02 PM

His advice is on the money Bill. Like he said,,, just be sure to counter bore the hole to clear the threads of the screw just to where it contacts the fractured pc. (You want the screw to not bind in the upper pc.) Just before you tighten it,,,, apply some "Super Glue" to the crack. Make a "Dry run",, first without tightening. As james said,,, use some bee,s wax or bar soap on the scew. You will end up with a repair you will NOT see & it will be bullet (Pellet Proof!!) Tim.

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